New technologies for old challenges

3D Techniques for use-wear analysis and technology studies in prehistory: Exploring a new field of application.

November 9th, 10th and 11th 2015

New technologies for old challenges

12 34 5 Presentation Context Problem

History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance Enlightenment Archaeology of the 19th century

Index

The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Discussion

1 Presentation Context Problem

Presentation

1 Presentation Context Problem

1 Presentation Context Problem

The vulnerability of the memory requires knowledge and culture to be engraved permanently.

Technological progress has brought new ways of recording, collecting, replicating, and displaying the data.

Archaeology has incorporated and arranged techniques that were developed by other areas, not always in a skillful manner.

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History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance 16th century Enlightenment 18th century Archaeology of the 19th century

History of archaeology

2

History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance 16th century Enlightenment 18th century Archaeology of the 19th century

Hippias major (Plato, 390 BC) First mention of the word

arachaiologia.

Euclid (300 - ??? BC) Euclidean geometry.

To recover material remains in order to show the glorious past, and to prove the reality of the present ideologically.

Coincidental findings without a reasoned speech.

Plutarch, (c. AD 46 – AD 120) The Oracle of Delphi orders the Athenians to recover the skeletal remains of the hero Theseus; which are buried, according to the legend, in Skyros island.

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History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance 16th century Enlightenment 18th century Archaeology of the 19th century

Admiration for the classical world.

Emergence of the first antiques dealers who are searching for artifacts, they examine them, and they sell them.

The collections give rise to the cabinets of curiosities.

Desire to recover and collect objects form the Ancient Greece and the Ancient Rome.

Natural Exotica Scientifica Artificialia

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History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance 16th century Enlightenment 18th century Archaeology of the 19th century

G. Desargues (1591 – 1661) Projective geometry.

Publication of drawings of antiquities, accompanied by a reasoned speech.

Anne Claude (1692 – 1765).

Inventor of the typology and the chrono-typology for artifacts.

The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended

(Isaac Newton, 1728).

Reconstruction of the historical chronology by statistical calculation and estimating and average duration of 20 years per kingdom.

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History of archaeology Antiquity Renaissance 16th century Enlightenment 18th century Archaeology of the 19th century

C. Babbage (1791 – 1871) The Difference Engine.

The Origin of Species (Darwin, 1859). It

introduces the concept of the biological evolution.

Technological development and cultural shift.

First geological surveys.

Classification in series of archaeological artifacts.

Some societies are more evolved than others.

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The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

The archaeologies of th the 20 century

3

The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

Dialectical materialism.

History fluctuates by periods of crisis like the supposed programed substitution of capitalism by communism.

Cultural evolutionism.

Vere Gordon Childe (1892-I1957) introduces the anthropological model to archaeology.

Civilized

Barbarian

Savage Social shifts caused by revolutions

Cultural shifts caused by invasions.

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The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

Gustaf Kossinna (1858 – 1931), linguist and archaeologist specialized in ancient German civilizations.

He associates archaeology to nationalism.

He attributes linguistic identities and ethnic groups to the material culture.

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The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

The outstanding dynamism of the American universities during the postwar period lead to the origin of the processual archaeology.

Authors with not enough scientific and technical knowledge who misuse the concepts and obtain misinformation.

Theoretical mixture.

Technical incorporation.

Methodological renovation.

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Cultural evolutionism (Childe) Systems theory (Flannery) Cultural ecology (Steward)

Physical-chemical analysis Studies of fauna and botany Retrospective studies Spatial distribution Statistical analysis

Logical positivism Hypothetico-deductive models Use of quantitative data

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The archaeologies of the 20th century Marxism Kossinnism New Archaeology Nowadays

Archaeology has as purpose to rebuild all the components of the system of a past society.

Archaeology covers almost all the scientific disciplines and needs to use theirs techniques in order to collect data.

The contribution of the scientific disciplines to archaeology works as a process of acculturation, creating specializations and borrowing techniques.

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Archaeometry (Physics) Prehistory and Ancient History (History) Archaeography (Geography) Archaeozoology (Zoology) Archaeobotany (Botany) Geoarchaeology (Geology) Aerial Archaeology (Remote sensing, aeronautics) Quantitative Archaeology (Statistics) Virtual archaeology (Graphic Design) Archaeology of Death (Medecine) Etnoarchaeology (Etnography) ...

4

The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

The contribution of new technologies

4

The contribution of new technologies Savings money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Photogrammetry, laser scanning, databases.

They accelerate the documentation process, reduce expenses in staff hiring.

Problems.

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Professional activity with limited financial resources.

Freelancers cannot afford an investment in new technologies.

Poor implementation of new technologies.

GIS, remote sensing, geophysical techniques, LIDAR. Better quality of data and more quantity, new analyzing systems that offer new interpretative perspectives.

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The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Problems.

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Technology becomes a purpose in itself.

Use of new technologies that are not oriented to solve specific issues.

Use of the technologies without previously having theoretical knowledge.

University course plans that are often outdated.

GIS, Databases.

Bigger capacity to obtain and integrate data in different levels (multilayer and multiscale).

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The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Problems.

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Huge quantities of data, often without being processed.

Lack of minimum standards to process the data.

Poor accessibility to the information.

Difficulties to integrate different data together.

Lack of information from public body about the adoption of new technologies.

4 Augmented reality, virtual reconstruction, computer graphics.

They synthesize the information and make spectators participate in the construction of the contents that they receive.

The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Problems.

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Poor implementation of new technologies in museum exhibition.

Professionals with specialization but without transversal academic training.

Technology becomes a purpose in itself without solving specific issues about dissemination.

Photogrammetry, laser scanning, drones.

Fast, highly accurate metric and radiometric documentation. High quantity of data.

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The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Problems.

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Huge quantity of irrelevant data.

Hardware unable to process this amount of data.

Overall record. Documentation of elements without relevance.

Photogrammetry, laser scanning.

Digital conservation of material remains and transfer of data to different formats.

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The contribution of new technologies Saving money New interpretations Management improved Wide dissemination Exhaustive record Immaterial conservation

Problems.

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Very fast technological evolution.

Continuous change of formats.

Not a single kind of storage device guarantees durability.

Programmed obsolescence.

5 Discussion

Discussion

5 Discussion

1 The use of new technologies supposes an unquestionable advancement for archaeology.

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3

Sometimes, the technological advancement has not been assumed by archaeology from the theoretical aspect.

The new technologies have to be used in a given context and with the purpose of obtaining data and solving a previous, specific scientific issue.

4 The possibilities and limitations of each techniques or each technological tools have to be wellknown before being used.

5 In several cases, there is not any standardized method, nor any agreement, about how to employ a technique or a method.

6 Lack of accessibility to the data of other projects that makes difficult to do comparative studies and holistic studies.

Research, Conservation and Spreading.

Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Pyrenees. info@regirarocs.com www.regirarocs.com